Review: Jerusalem: The Biography

Jerusalem: The Biography is not your ordinary history book. While most history books focus on dates and events, Jerusalem focuses more on the people that build this city. I share Sebag-Montefiore’s fascination on this magical city, yet Sebag-Montefiore drives the fascination to a whole new level. I’ve read other books on Jerusalem, including Karen Armstrong’s Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths and I find Sebag-Montefiore’s Jerusalem to use different approach that may not suit everyone’s taste. You may think that the book lacks in details about Jerusalem’s history, yet again, the approach used by Sebag-Montefiore is not merely the city’s details, but on how Jerusalem becomes Jerusalem, how the people along its history – David, Jesus, St. Helena, Muhammad, Saladin, Richard the Lionheart, Baldwin, Suleiman the Magnificent, Benjamin Disraeli, Theodore Herzl, Chaim Weizmann – defines this city. The story aptly stops at the Six Days War, arguing that to continue means the book will be endless. I can clearly justify Sebag-Montefiore’s approach as unique and somewhat rarely found in history books.

What you’ll learn about Jerusalem in this book may also seen as different compared to learning to one’s history through a common method of studying history. Indeed, the chapters are linearly arranged, yet they are defined with who is in during that period. So it is not merely a biography of Jerusalem, yet it is also a biography of the people that defines Jerusalem, namely what do they do in the holy city.

This book is to be read with the clearest mind, and clearly not for the faint-hearted. The size of the book is considerably a behemoth, yet the content is also enormous. Luckily, there are no disturbing, difficult-to-understand details that may deter common readers from completing the book. Yet, in this book [spoiler alert, should I say] you will find different perspectives on the three religions, at their best and worst. I may suggest you to keep your head cool down when reading this.

At the end, I cannot recommend more the book Jerusalem for you who are interested in learning more about this holy city of three faiths. As I finish this book, my fascination to this city only grows more, as the city that exists in both terrestrial and celestial forms, as Sebag-Montefiore says in the beginning of this book, you may find the experience of reading this book mind-enlightening, and hopefully you’ll understand why some people call Jerusalem as the heavenly city.